Land trust unites community, secures future for African Nova Scotians
Sixth-generation African Nova Scotian Curtis Whiley is helping to write a new chapter for the Upper Hammonds Plains Community. “It is a wild story.” Curtis Whiley has had a busy few years. From administering co-operative housing agreements and delivering home repair programs at the Government of Nova Scotia’s Department of Growth and Development, to creating […]
Land trust in N.S. secures $61.2M to build housing for Black Canadians
The federal government announced $61.2 million for the Upper Hammonds Plains Community Land Trust on Saturday. The funding will be used to build 136 co-op housing units in the historic African Nova Scotian community. All the units will be built at 195 Equestrian Lane with the first block of housing due to open next fall, […]
How Black-led community land trusts are connecting Black communities with lost land across Canada
With their collective ownership model, community land trusts have the opportunity to work with provincial and federal governments to provide affordable housing and community hubs to marginalized communities. At six weeks old, in 1995, Shekara Grant was the youngest attendee at the Weymouth Falls community’s biannual reunion. Thirty years later, Grant is the founder of […]
Reviving heritage and affordable housing: The UHPCLT community land trust project
To combat further erosion of the affordable housing stock, Upper Hammonds Plains Community Land Trust UHPCLT, has set out to demonstrate how to create an affordable housing-focused, community-led community land trust. This CLT will serve the community and lead a transformative movement guided by community voices, values, and aspirations. The Nova Scotia Community Housing Growth Fund, as […]
In Halifax, Truro, Upper Hammonds Plains, community land trusts offer a way for residents to build neighbourhoods, legacy
An old idea is finding its way to Nova Scotia that may help preserve plots of land where communities can build affordable housing. The United Way Halifax and several partners are exploring the idea of creating a community land trust (CLT) in the Halifax area. According to Kevin Hooper, the manager of partnerships and community development with […]
Upper Hammonds Plains welcomes new co-operative housing development
The federal government announced the development of 136 new affordable housing units in Upper Hammonds Plains Saturday. The project, known as the Upper Hammonds Plains Housing Co-operative, is part of the Co-operative Housing Development Program which the government says is the largest federal investment in new co-op housing development in more than 30 years, with $1.5 […]
Federal government announces first projects funded under new Co-operative Housing Development Program
The federal government announced the first co-operative housing projects to receive funding under the new Co-operative Housing Development Program (CHDP), a $1.5 billion initiative designed to support the creation of new co-op housing across the country. Through the first application window, $423 million in funding has been allocated to support eight new co-ops, creating a […]
New housing co-op in Upper Hammonds Plains bringing 136 affordable units
A new housing co-op in Upper Hammonds Plains will see 136 new affordable homes built over the next year and a half. Article content A groundbreaking ceremony was held at the property at 195 Equestrian Lane on Saturday afternoon. Article content Article content The project, which includes 29 accessible units, has received $61 million in […]
Transforming the Landscape of African Nova Scotian communities
The Upper Hammonds Plains Community Land Trust (UHPCLT) exemplifies community-led advocacy and community-developed solutions to longstanding systemic issues in African Nova Scotian communities, yielding positive results and progress in Upper Hammonds Plains, a suburban community in Halifax Regional Municipality. Article content The community recently came together to conduct a Solutions Lab, a social innovation project […]
Community Land Trusts offer a way for residents to build neighbourhoods, legacy
“Through the work of land trust, we’ve really been able to mobilize a broader community conversation, which needed to be had in terms of us all getting on the same page, having a shared community vision. Those are really important,” Whiley said. “What I am understanding from working in other places, both in Nova Scotia […]